Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its position in shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC – Get Rating) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 115,945 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,001 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Hancock Whitney were worth $5,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 7.5% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,934,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $546,731,000 after acquiring an additional 837,780 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,044,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,308,000 after acquiring an additional 103,751 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 15.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,567,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,218,000 after acquiring an additional 596,516 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 2.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,479,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,225,000 after acquiring an additional 89,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Hancock Whitney by 0.5% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 4,264,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,030,000 after acquiring an additional 21,842 shares during the last quarter. 79.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 3.3 %

HWC opened at $33.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.68 and its 200-day moving average is $46.15. Hancock Whitney Co. has a 52-week low of $31.02 and a 52-week high of $57.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 18th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45. The company had revenue of $452.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.87 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 32.92% and a return on equity of 15.73%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Hancock Whitney Co. will post 5.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hancock Whitney Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on HWC. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Hancock Whitney from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $56.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $58.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Friday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hancock Whitney currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sonia Perez purchased 2,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $36.54 per share, for a total transaction of $100,009.98. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,665 shares in the company, valued at $170,459.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hancock Whitney Profile

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Hancock Whitney Corp. operates as a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services. It also offers trust and investment management services to retirement plans, corporations, individuals, brokerage services, annuity products, life insurance, general insurance and agency services, including life, title insurance and consumer financing service.